Story:Star Trek - Infinity/Chapter 19
---- I felt my body tingle as I shifted through dimensions. It was as shocking sensation, and it took me a moment to reacquire my sense. Everything around me was in a ghostly state. I could see Nicky nearby, but her words seemed distant, as though I was hearing her through a wall of water. A few feet away, I could see Denarchia. Unlike Nicky, I could see her quite clearly, and we both nodded to each other; L’Nel’s theory had proven correct. I tried to take a breath, but the air was sparse, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away. I took a step forward, and my boot sunk into the metal floor. Horrified, for a moment I thought I was going to pass through the deck plating, but my foot soon met resistance, and it slid back out again, as though I was walking on a soft cushion. I continued moving forward, and placed a hand on the wall in front of me. I once again met with resistance, but this time I forced my way through it. It hurt terribly, as though the wall wanted to merge itself with my body. I gritted my teeth and kept on pushing, and after another few seconds of agony, I was through. I unclipped the device from my arm, and felt my head spinning. I fell to my knees and vomited, but as I opened my eyes again, I could see everything clearly once more. I turned to see Denarchia a few feet away in a similar manor, but she had managed to hold the contents of her stomach in. Denarchia leapt to her feet as a Romulan guard rounded the corner. For a moment, he just gaped. “How did-” And in that instant, Denarchia rushed forward. The guard reached for his weapon, but it was already too late. Denarchia wrapped her free arm around his neck, and with a sickening snap, he was dead. Denarchia let go of him, and his body slumped to the floor. She gritted her teeth and growled as she clasped her arm. I glanced at her. “You okay?” She nodded. “I’ll be fine.” She grabbed the disrupter from the dead Romulan’s side. “Let’s keep moving.” I glanced back through the forcefield at Nicky, and she gave me a nod and a thumbs up. We headed for the door and exited the security block. Denarchia turned to me. “As soon as I shoot he surveillance camera, we’ll have to move fast. The whole ship will know we’re here in a few minutes.” I nodded, and she fired her disrupter at the camera. We took off running, and soon reached the turbolift. We were about to enter, when I spotted something nearby. Through a window, I could see a group of Romulans aiming disrupter rifles at a row of figures. Denarchia grabbed my arm. “Let’s go!” I pointed towards the row of figures. “We have to help them!” I turned to look her in the eye, and she nodded concedingly. “You save them, I’ll disable the ship.” I replied, “But your arm!” She responded, “I only need one arm to fire a disrupter, and one arm to break a Romulan neck; I’ll be just fine.” As she stepped into the turbolift, I found myself wondering who I should be more worried about: Denarchia, or the Romulans guarding the bridge. I stepped through the doors leading to the large room, and quietly moved down the steps. I could see the sublieutenant standing beside five other Romulans holding disrupter rifles. The sublieutenant raised his hand in the air. “Ready!” The guards raised their weapons. He clenched his hand into a fist. “Aim!” If I had had a moment longer to think about it, perhaps I could have thought of something better to shout, but I didn’t, and didn’t. “Hey ugly!” It wasn’t anything personal, I didn’t really think they were ugly, they weren’t really actually that bad looking; I had only wanted to get their attention. I ducked as disrupter blasts flew in my direction, tearing holes in the wall behind me. I heard a cheer rise up from the officers, and they rushed forward. For a few moments, it was utter chaos. Christopher and P’Trell led the charge, slamming into the Romulan guards and bowling them over like pins. Chris delivered a blow to one, and grabbed the disrupter from the guard’s hand. He shot the disrupter’s owner in the chest, and whirled around to fire a shot at the sublieutenant, who had been slinking away. Lt. j.g. Zik and Cmdr. Chekov followed with a second attack, and in a matter of moments, all seven Romulans lay dead, strewn across the floor with various wounds and disrupter holes in their bodies. I hurried down the steps towards the officers. Chekov was the first to speak, “Cadet, how did you manage to escape?” I replied, “Chief Todd will explain it later, for now we have to rescue the other cadets and get to the bridge to help Denarchia!” Chekov nodded, and turned to the rest of the group. “Zik, Martin, L’Nel, and Stoner; you head to the detention block and free the other cadets. The rest of you, with me.” The ten of us piled into the turbolift, armed with the Romulan’s disrupters. As the doors opened, a frenzied scene was laid out before me. Two Romulans lay outside the turbolifts doors, and a third was dead near the helm. Disrupter holes covered the walls, and in the middle of it all was Denarchia, grappling for her life with a pair of Romulans armed with razorsharp daggers. The Romulan facing us ducked as he spotted us, and barely missed getting hit as his comrade was gunned down by P’Trell and Christopher. A moment later, he jumped back up again and grabbed Denarchia round the chest, holding his wickedly sharp blade to her throat. “Don’t move, or she dies.” Denarchia growled. “Get off me!” She slammed her elbow into his chest, and slapped his knife away. In a blur of motion, she delivered a kick to his head, and he fell to the ground, knocked completely unconscious. “Well played.” All of us turned as we heard the sound of clapping. Dawn stepped out from around the corner, a sick smile plastered across her face. “Just one problem, I still have all the rest of your cadets, and unless you want me to slaughter all of them right here and now, I suggest you drop your weapons.” One by one, we all dropped our weapons, and they clattered to the floor in a heap beside the dead Romulans. Dawn let out a small giggle, something that sent shivers down my spine. “You’ve done well cadets, it’ll be so nice to have you as a part of my army. You’ll make fine operatives, once you learn a little respect.” The Romulan who had been knocked out by Denarchia lifted his head, and stumbled to his feet. Dawn scowled at him. “You are a disgrace to the master race.” She fired a disrupter bolt into his chest, sending him toppling to the ground, rasping as he gasped, trying to contain air with lungs he no longer had. She turned back to us. “Now then, where was I. Ah yes, you will all be executed for your failed attempt to escape. You will make a fine example to the other cadets.” I smiled. “Now see, that’s where you’re wrong commander. You don’t have the other cadets.” The ship shook and the voice of a Romulan officer came over the bridge comlink. “Sir! The shields just went out; all the cadets were just beamed over to the Infinity!” A blue hue glowed around my body, and Dawn screamed, “''No!''” A moment later, we all stood on the bridge of the Infinity. Chekov shouted, “Red alert! Mr. P’Trell, raise shields! Ensign Arch, take the helm! Lieutenant Iria, man the science station!” The crew scrambled to comply with the commander’s orders. I turned, and found myself staring into the eyes of- “Ublar, magician extraordinaire!” My jaw dropped. “Ublar! How did you get here?” His antenna twitched. “Your traitorous little lady missed me.” I scowled. “Why didn’t you help us?” He frowned. “I did try, oh believe me, I did. But the crazy lady in the ship said I couldn’t authorize anything, or some nonsense.” If not for the heat of the moment, I probably would’ve laughed, but instead I ignored him and moved to assist the bridge officers. P’Trell shouted, “Sir! We’ve disabled their sensor net!” Lt. J.G. Iria turned to the commander. “Sir, the warbird’s drive has activated, they’re going to warp!” Chekov turned to P’Trell. “Lieutenant, disable their engines!” P’Trell shook his head. “I can’t sir, the photon torpedo launchers aren’t armed and phasers are offline!” The commander turned to Chris. “Mr. Arch, are we able to pursue?” Christopher shook his head. “Negative sir, the warp core is still powering up!” Chekov’s expression darkened. “Blast!” The warbird shot to warp, leaving a trail of burning plasma smoke and debris as it went. Chekov let out a sigh and relaxed. “Stand down red alert. Lt. L’Nel, organize repair crews. Dr. Layn, tend to the wounded. Oh, and everyone…” He paused for a moment, letting a smooth smile spread across his face. “We’ve won.” Everyone cheered. He was right, the Romulans may have escaped, but they had taken considerable damage. They wouldn’t mess with us again soon…